It doesn’t capture reality. Our own eyes don’t even do that. We don’t even know what “reality” is because we only experience it through our the filters of our m

It doesn’t capture reality. Our own eyes don’t even do that. We don’t even know what “reality” is because we only experience it through our the filters of our mind. CCDs are just stupid light buckets and the reality of them is, at best, a spreadsheet showing those counts. Everything beyond that is a choice someone made to present things a certain way. And everything before the photograph is taken is that way too. Framing, exposure time, time of day, choice of subject... etc. all influence the “reality” captured in the photograph. Half the reason you probably think they capture reality in the sense you mean is because photographers not shooting for Instagram generally try very hard to make it appear that way. But... they don’t.